


Knock Before Entering

by In_Time_of_Peril



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: F/F, Gen, Other, Sadric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-23
Updated: 2014-07-23
Packaged: 2018-02-10 01:06:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2005101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/In_Time_of_Peril/pseuds/In_Time_of_Peril
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for the illegal-looming kink meme on Tumblr.  Prompt: Five times Adric walked in on Nyssa and Tegan getting intimate...and one time the Doctor did.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Knock Before Entering

Adric made his way through the TARDIS, pondering the great mysteries of the multiverse. Many highly important questions filtered through his mind.

What is life?

Is there a purpose to it all?

Can the TARDIS food machine be reconfigured to drop out twenty food bars in one go?

His deep thoughts were interrupted as he passed a particular door and heard strange, tinkling music drifting out from the room beyond. Pausing, he tilted his head to one side and turned back. The music was interesting. In fact, it almost seemed to pull him toward it. Shivers were running up and down his spine, and he reached out to put his hand on the door.

There was a sudden sense that he should not go on, that this was not for him. He had not been there when the music started, and so he should leave. Still, it was so nice, so soft, and he really did want to find out about it. He pushed through the doorway and then stood, open mouthed, confused by the sight before him. Of course, the interesting feelings from the music were still coursing through him, although the music itself was soon drowned out by Tegan’s indignant shouting and Nyssa’s complaint that he should learn to knock on doors first.

Before he knew it, the music had stopped altogether and Tegan, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders like some sort of awkward robe, was marching toward him. Soon enough, he found himself grabbed by the collar of his tunic and the seat of his trousers and deposited, rather forcefully, back out into the corridor. Tegan spat a few words about “sneaky little boys” at him, then turned and stormed back into the room, slamming the door behind her.

Shaking his head, Adric stood. He wasn’t certain what Nyssa and Tegan had been doing in there, but he was more certain than ever that girls were very strange creatures indeed.

* * *

There was nothing to do. Nothing. The Doctor had dropped them all here on this backwater little planet (even more of a backwater than Earth, and that was saying something,) to wait while he went off and attended to some very important business. Adric thought, if it was such important business, that he at least should have been taken along. He could help.

Still, it wasn’t all bad. The little boarding house they were staying in was comfortable enough, and the food was good. Adric had managed to procure a packet of sweets, some sort of chewy, sticky bits that Tegan had said were like taffy, whatever that was. It was all very good, except for the time he put too much in his mouth at once and managed to stick his teeth together for a while.

The Doctor had been gone for an awfully long time, and there was a constant rainstorm going on outside that, somehow, made Adric worry. Not that rain or other precipitation on a planet had, in his experience, ever affected the Doctor adversely. Still, the Doctor had said he wouldn’t be long. That had been yesterday afternoon. With a deep sigh, Adric levered himself off of the very comfy little sofa and tromped along up the stairs to the next level of the building.

He thought of going to his room and resting, or perhaps reading some of the interesting little books lying around on the shelves. He had glanced at one the morning before, and the illustrations were rather funny at least. The Doctor hadn’t necessarily seemed to agree, blushing bright red and stammering something about “when you’re older” as Adric showed it to him. Tegan had laughed, at least, and Nyssa had sort of giggled and buried her face in her hands.

There was a noise outside, and Adric raced to the window at the end of the hall. He looked down, hoping to see the TARDIS, but it was only some strange, wheezy vehicle lurching along the road. Slamming his fist down on the windowsill, Adric made up his mind. He was worried about the Doctor, and he was going to see if the others didn’t agree that they should try to make contact. Nyssa had the communicator, after all. The room that Nyssa and Tegan were occupying was just a few doors along from the window, and so Adric rushed there, barging in. He knew he should knock, but this might be important.

“Nyssa, I think we’ve got to try and reach the Doctor! He said - what?”

Adric was unsure, but he thought that somehow, Nyssa and Tegan were reenacting the illustration from his book. Why would they want to do that? They were looking at him, faces a mixture of confusion, concern, and, in Tegan’s case, an expression that meant she was within an ace of throwing him out into the corridor. Adric backed up quickly and slammed the door, hoping that would be enough to keep either of the girls from coming after him. A moment later the door opened again and Nyssa peered out at him, her dressing gown looking rather rumpled, as if she had somehow rushed putting it on.

“Adric, you know you should…”

“I’m sorry, but the Doctor said he wouldn’t be long, and it’s been almost a day. I’m rather worried, and I really think we ought to try and make contact.”

Nyssa sighed, then nodded.

“All right. Tegan and I will get dressed, then we’ll try and get in touch with the Doctor.”

“Oh, good. But Nyssa - why weren’t you dressed anyway? I mean, it’s nearly afternoon and…”

Nyssa gave him a look that almost made him cringe, and Adric backed away slowly. He hadn’t known that anyone but Tegan could glare quite like that. In that moment, he decided that perhaps Nyssa and Tegan were spending too much time together. Clearly, the angry Human had been rubbing off on the gentle Trakenite. Still, at least things would go back to normal, soon. Well, as normal as they ever were when traveling with the Doctor. As Nyssa closed the door, Adric nodded firmly, certain that he had done the right thing, and went back downstairs to retrieve his sweets.

* * *

Adric hadn’t minded so much that they were on a ship, at first. Oh, he rather wished it had been a spaceship, not an ocean going ship on Earth, but still, the food was good and the whole crew seemed very kind.

“Because they have to,” Tegan told him once when he commented on it. “They’re paid to be nice.”

Of course, Tegan had been jittery the entire time they were here. Adric chalked it up to everyone, besides himself, being upset. The Doctor fidgeted an awful lot, Nyssa seemed nervous to be around so much water, and Tegan - well, there was never really any telling what had Tegan upset. Something to do with how the boat was named, or something.

Adric was strolling along the deck, stopping here and there to stare out over the vast expanse of the ocean. It was certainly a sight worth seeing, anyway. The Doctor was off doing who knows what, Nyssa was probably tucked up reading somewhere, Tegan no doubt was yelling at someone about something, and so Adric was alone. There was a rather pretty young woman skulking along not too far away, and Adric thought about striking up a conversation. She looked friendly enough, if a little shady. But then, shady types always seemed to be the most helpful when you were traveling with the Doctor.

“Good morning, Miss,” he said, and doffed the little cap that went with the suit he had chosen from the TARDIS.

“Beat it, kid,” the woman growled.

“I’m sorry. Only you seemed to be alone and I thought…"

“Listen, kid, I am in no mood right now. Why don’t you go and - I dunno, play with something?”

She stormed off, and Adric made a mental addendum to his list of how people were. Shady types were often helpful, but sometimes they just acted like Tegan. Oh well, perhaps he could go and find Nyssa. She might want to play a game of chess or discuss something interesting. Nyssa was really, besides the Doctor, the person Adric could relate to the most. It was almost like having a big sister, in a way. Thinking like that made a few tears rise to Adric’s eyes, and he ran his fingers along the trailing end of the belt that was tied at his waist.

No, he wouldn’t cry. Why should he? He was an adult now. He understood how life was, how things worked. Change was important, even if it meant losing people important to you. He’d just go and find Nyssa and they would talk and he would feel better.

This time, he remembered to knock before barging into a room. Of course, his knock drew no response at first. He tried again, only slightly more firmly, and heard something like a pained groan from beyond the door. Suppose Nyssa was hurt, somehow? Suppose there was some dreadful creature on the ship, and that’s why they were here? That must be it! The Doctor was so nervous because they were facing a terrible evil, and now that evil had got to Nyssa! Well, Adric knew what to do. He burst into the room, intent on saving his friend.

The only danger he saw in the room was that one probably shouldn’t lean off of a bed at that angle when the ship was rocking so precariously. Suppose Tegan fell and hit her head? Really, both of them ought to know better and be more careful.

“Adric!” Tegan growled, and somehow it sounded like a threat.

“Oh, Adric, why don’t you knock?” Nyssa groaned.

“I did! You - well, I suppose you didn’t hear me, and then I heard a sound. I thought you were hurt, that you were being attacked or something!”

“I’m fine, Adric. We both are.”

“Or rather were,” Tegan muttered, and she had straightened up to sit properly on the bed now.

“Sorry,” Adric said. “I only wanted someone to talk to, and the Doctor’s nowhere to be found.”

Shutting the door, Adric stalked off down the corridor. He nearly slammed into a woman, and she steadied him with a hand on his shoulder.

"Goddess, boy, don’t storm around like that!”

“Sorry,” he said again, brushing past, head down so that the woman wouldn’t see the tears burning in his eyes.

* * *

The Cranleighs were very nice people. Well, mostly. There was the whole disfigured relative locked away in the house trying to kill people part (Adric had been certain that only happened in books) but otherwise the past few days had been almost nice. There had been the cricket match (which was exciting, even though Adric still didn’t understand after both Tegan and the Doctor tried to explain) and the masquerade (so much good food, and one boy had asked him to dance, even though that ended up falling through).

It hadn’t been so nice, of course, to see Nyssa nearly get killed up on the roof, but she was all right now. Tegan had been looking after her very well since yesterday.

In his brief explorations of the house, Adric’s first goal had been to locate the kitchen. That had been simple enough, and he had charmed the cook into giving him whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. Just now, he had filled up with a huge sandwich and several glasses of orange juice, so he was content. Walking back to his room, he smiled. Yes, this had actually been a nice trip, overall. Happy times with his good friends. That was all he needed.

As he passed the door of Nyssa and Tegan’s room, he heard a sound. It was small, sort of distant squeak. At first, he thought it was a mouse; he had seen one scuttering along a corridor on their first day here. It might be rather interesting to catch and keep such a creature, sort of a pet. There were lab mice back in the TARDIS, but they were white and rather tame and boring. This would be a wild mouse, and Adric thought it could make a great little friend.

There was that squeaking again, but it definitely wasn’t a mouse. No, this was more like a creaky floorboard. Someone else up and about, perhaps? It didn’t sound like it was before or behind him in the corridor. He shivered, remembering that the Doctor had learned there were secret passages in the house. Was someone sneaking around? Suppose the Cranleighs had more secrets they hadn’t mentioned.

If there was anyone skulking about, anyone dangerous, then the Doctor should know about it. But the noise was quite close by, so perhaps he should warn Nyssa and Tegan first. They could come with him to get the Doctor, and maybe they would all go and stay in the TARDIS for the night. He knocked at the door, very loudly this time. He had learned his lesson.

“Who - who is it?” Nyssa called.

“It’s me! It’s Adric. Listen, I really think…”

“Oh, Adric, go to bed.” That was Tegan.

“But there might be trouble in…”

“Adric, it’s very late.”

“But Nyssa!”

There was no answer. Adric frowned at the door. After a time, the squeaking started up again, slowly. It was coming from inside the walls, he was sure. Suddenly, Nyssa squealed, Tegan shrieked, and Adric decided to forget about niceties and burst into their room. Someone had to protect them, after all. He darted to the window, to the bathroom door, looking all around for any sign of a false panel or other point of entry. Eventually, he dropped to the floor and peered under the bed. When he looked up, Nyssa was leaning over, looking at him.

“Are you quite finished?” she asked.

“I heard a sound. I thought someone might be sneaking around in those secret passages.”

“Well, there were passages involved; that’s for sure,” Tegan said, and she actually sounded happy. Nyssa blushed, leaning down to cover Tegan’s mouth with a hand.

“What sort of sound did you hear, Adric?”

“Like a squeak. Something like floorboards, someone creeping…”

“Was it like this?” Nyssa asked, and she shifted her weight a little, sort of rode up and down in her position astride Tegan’s hips. The bed creaked and squeaked.

“Yes! That was it exactly! And then you both screamed, or sort of screamed…”

“That happens, sometimes. We were - just enjoying ourselves. Perhaps you could ask the Doctor to have a nice long talk with you about those things.”

“Oh, yes. Perhaps. I’ll go and ask him now…”

“You might wait until the morning,” Tegan said, having turned her head to get Nyssa’s hand away from her mouth. She sounded a bit pained.

“Well if I ask him now…”

“Trust me. Wait until morning. Now get out!”

Now Tegan sounded angry, as she so often did, so Adric decided to cut his losses and run. He made a mental note to ask the Doctor about things over breakfast. 

* * *

Life in the TARDIS was getting rather tiresome. Adric had never thought he would say that, but now it was all he could think. He just didn’t fit in. He doubted he would fit in anywhere outside of E-Space, really. No one paid attention to him, or gave him credit for things. He did a lot of good, helped out more often than anyone realised, but they all ignored him. They treated him like a little child.

He missed Romana; she had talked to him like he had a brain, at least. And the other Doctor, the one before, had been like a sort of blustering, odd father. This one was nice, very kind and intelligent, but he was so nervous sometimes, and sort of lacked an openness that his former incarnation had just naturally seemed to enjoy.

Oh well, there was always television. Adric had discovered the joys of “telly,” as Tegan was wont to refer to it, early in his travels aboard the TARDIS. There were a lot of interesting things to see on the telly. There were programs from almost any point in time and space, and you could learn a lot watching them, or even just flipping through the channels. Perhaps there would be something good on right now. If he worked at it, he might find one of those comedy shows he loved so much. Maybe even the episode with the dead parrot would be on!

“This parrot is no more!” Adric chuckled to himself as he strode toward the television room. “He has ceased to be! He’s expired and gone to meet his - oh, no!"

Nyssa and Tegan were, unfortunately, occupying the sofa at the moment. It seemed that they were watching a film, or at least had been. For the moment they were stretched out, hands roaming over each other’s bodies while on the telly, some woman sang to a very muscular blond man about touching.

“Can’t you two do that in your own room?” Adric muttered.

“S-sorry,” Tegan gasped, and Nyssa sat up quickly, straightening her blouse.

“We were - just watching a film,” she managed.

“I’m sure you were, earlier. But now - well, I know what you were doing. The Doctor explained it all to me. I know things have been off lately, and I know that Nyssa nearly died recently…”

“I did die. For three minutes.”

“But that’s no excuse to just start being all over each other in every room! Don’t you have any sense of - of…”

“Tact?” Tegan offered.

“Decorum,” Nyssa said. “I think he means decorum.”

“There are other beings on the TARDIS besides yourselves! And I was here first! I came along for adventure, not to watch two females discover themselves with each other!”

Storming out of the television room, Adric made up his mind. He was going to talk to the Doctor, and soon, about returning to E-Space. This situation had just gotten totally beyond any sort of control. Nothing was like it used to be, and there was only so much change that Adric could handle. He had thought of the TARDIS as home and the others aboard as his family. Now, though, he thought it might be better to leave and go back where he belonged.

* * *

The Doctor looked around the console room, puffing out a hard breath. Everything had been straightened up, of course. The damage to the console was mostly fixed, the remains of the Cybermen who had been on board were disposed of, and even the bits of Adric’s broken badge were scooped up off of the floor.

Everyone who should be back in a specific time and place was, and now it was just the Doctor in the TARDIS with Tegan and Nyssa. Adric was gone, long gone, and there was no getting the boy back. The Doctor would have done anything to change that, to fix it, but there was no way. He slipped his hand into his pocket, felt the little bits of the snapped and mangled badge that Adric had once worn. A sharp edge caught on his thumb and tore the skin, raising a little blood. The Doctor looked at it thoughtfully, then dabbed at the wound with a handkerchief that he found balled up in his other pocket.

They were stopped, for now, on Lipragopolis. It was a calm enough place, as long as one stayed out of the way and took cautious action with the locals. He’d had a brief dispute with the Lipragopolitans in his previous incarnation, but surely everything had moved on by now.

It seemed like an excellent time to go and find the girls, to see if they wanted to go and have a look around. There were some excellent opportunities for sightseeing on the planet, and a bustling marketplace that was always crammed with interesting little treasures.

There was no sign of Nyssa or Tegan in their room. They also weren’t in the kitchen, the boot cupboard, any of the sculleries, or the television room. He was actually a bit worried; he knew how upset they had both been since Adric’s unfortunate demise, and there was every chance that leaving them alone, even with each other, had been poor thinking on his part.

No sign of them near the medbay, though he did stop and get a plaster for his thumb. Where could Nyssa and Tegan be? At last, on a pass through the upper levels of the library, he found them.

A glance down over the railings revealed them on the main floor. They were curled up together on the ancient Chesterfield sofa, arms around each other. He could see a handkerchief much like his own in Nyssa’s grip, and from the small sounds he heard, she was probably actively weeping at the moment.

“It’s all right now,” Tegan was murmuring, over and over, her hands stroking Nyssa’s hair.

“But - he was all alone. Suppose - wouldn’t it be terrible to die all alone?”

“We don’t have to worry about that. And even when - as things happened, I’m sure Adric knew we were thinking of him.”

“I wish I’d been kinder to him.”

“You always were, Nyssa.”

“No. Not always.”

“We’ve all got regrets. Just be glad that it wasn’t worse for him somehow.”

“How could it be worse?”

“He could’ve made it off the freighter, but got horribly injured somehow. He could be here, alive, but in terrible pain. This way, everything was over quickly. He didn’t suffer.”

The Doctor stood, hands gripping the railing so tightly that he thought he might bend it. He hoped that what Tegan said was true. It had to be. Didn’t it? Nyssa’s weeping seemed to have slowed, and she kissed Tegan on the cheek.

“Love me?” she whispered, and the Doctor knew that he should go, that he was intruding on their private grief.

“Course I do,” Tegan murmured, and now she kissed Nyssa back.

The Doctor turned away quickly, rushed out of the library, and went to collect his thoughts.

**Author's Note:**

> Many thanks, as always, to aceinnatailsuit, both for commentary and advice during the writing process and for being my co-mod over at illegal-looming.tumblr.com
> 
> This story started as a fill for a kink meme. It quickly became less kink, more sad about Adric not fitting in or feeling like he really belongs. The spirit of the prompt was met, anyway.
> 
> Some references: The odd music in the first segment is intended to be a literal aphrodisiac recording. It's Trakenite in origin, based on some thoughts I've developed working on a conlang/cultural backing.  
> The second segment takes place during a longer story I'm working on, in which the Fifth Doctor has an adventure alongside the Corsair.  
> The two women Adric meets aboard the Titanic are actually Ace McShane and Bernice Summerfield (though not in the exact context of their presence there during the events of the novel "The Left-Handed Hummingbird")  
> The fourth segment, of course, takes place during the offscreen time between the death of George Cranleigh and the TARDIS crew's departure in "Black Orchid."  
> Adric's love of Monty Python referenced in the fifth section is taken from the short story "Not So Much a Program, More a Way of Life." The film Nyssa and Tegan had been watching is "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," in reference to a particular headcanon. The mention of Nyssa having briefly died refers to the events of the Big Finish Companion Chronicle "The Darkening Eye."  
> Of course the final segment of the story overall takes place just after the events of "Earthshock."
> 
> It should be noted that, as of posting, this work is the first piece in my planned "Tomes of the Eternals" series, connected via the Fifth Doctor/Corsair adventure alluded to in the second segment.


End file.
